- 09 APR 2023
Prime Minister’s Easter Message – 2023
Message to the nation from Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago Dr the Honourable Keith Rowley on the occasion of Easter 2023.
Jesus Christ has risen. This is the fundamental pillar of Christianity.
Throughout the Christian community, worldwide, there are outbursts of celebrations, cries of devotion, expressions of fellowship, thanksgiving, and wonderous joy.
On behalf of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, my own family and myself as Prime Minister, I join in these celebrations, extending sincere Greetings to the Christian community on its commemoration of Easter 2023, the observation of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In Holy Week we have been reflecting on the life of Christ, then we turned to his agonising passion, his crucifixion, death, and burial, followed by a period of stillness and silence, and eventually his resurrection on glorious Easter Sunday.
In celebrating Jesus’ resurrection, we see it as a time to refine our own understanding of the human condition and the self-centredness of our values. Alternatively, we are all offered here the prospects of an awakening in the transformative power of a new self, which awaits us; a self which Jesus offers us in a divine love with God.
As we reflect, we may discover that we are wrapped up in our search for true happiness, because our value system represents personal happiness, based upon achieving greater levels of security and survival, affection and esteem, power, and control.
Here then is a need to call Christ. The Apostle Paul tells a lot about sin and, in his path, being enslaved by it, but being set free by the teachings of Jesus Christ.
This Easter celebrations offer Christians moments in which we can evaluate our personal programmes for happiness, the ones we hold dear to achieve greater wealth, comfort, and prestige.
A deeper search may provide a better understanding of the frailty, brokenness and resilience of the human condition, and the extent to which we all are alienated, in our daily lives, from others and from God.
This Easter offers us an invitation to the awakening to the divine presence of Jesus Christ. Listen out for his invitation; a voice which resides within us all, calling us to a better place of personal empathy and responsibility whilst sacrificing for others.
May we all, as citizens, have a Holy and reflective Easter holiday 2023.
